Mazargues is a former village and now a neighbourhood of the 9th arrondissement in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and large ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

History

Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné, comtesse de Grignan (10 October 1646 – 13 August 1705), was a French aristocrat, remembered for the letters that her mother, Madame de Sévigné, wrote to her. Life Françoise-Marguerite was born in Paris, ...

(1646–1705), a French aristocrat, had a

bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the f ...

in Mazargues. On February 5, 1703, in a letter to Mrs de Coulanges, he described it in those terms: "You only see people who live until a hundred years old; there are no illnesses; the good air and good water make it the realm of health and beauty. In this area, you only see pretty faces, only good-looking men, and old people just, like young people, have the most beautiful teeth in the world. If ever there are people who come close to those of

Telemachus Telemachus ( ; grc, Τηλέμαχος, Tēlemakhos, lit=far-fighter), in Greek mythology, is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who is a central character in Homer's ''Odyssey''. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in se ...

, it is those of Mazargues." According to historian Alfred Saurel (1827-1887), the Château de Mazargues, located on the corner of Chemin du Lancier and Chemin de Mazargues, was burned down during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

of 1789.

Main sights

The

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

was originally built on the

Place Castellane The Place Castellane is a historic square in the 6th arrondissement of Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. It was built in 1774. History The square was named for Henri-César de Castellane-Majastre, an aristocrat who donated the land for its c ...

in 1811 in honour of

Napoleon II , house = Bonaparte , father = Napoleon I, Emperor of the French , mother = Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma , birth_date = , birth_place = Tuileries Palace, Paris, French Empire ...

(1811-1832). It was moved to the roundabout in Mazargues in 1911. It is home to the Église Saint Roch, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church named for

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

. It is also home to the Mazargues Commonwealth War Cemetery, which includes 1,487 burials of casualties from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and 267 burials of casualties from the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Mazargues War Cemetery
/ref> The main street, Rue Émile-Zola, is named in honour of writer

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

(1840-1902). Another street, Rue Henri Revoil, is named for architect

Henri Révoil Henri Révoil (1822–1900) was a 19th-century French architect. Biography Early life Henri Révoil was born in 1822 in Aix-en-Provence. His father was the painter Pierre Révoil. Career From 1855 to 1860, he designed the facade of the Églis ...

(1822-1900), son of painter

Pierre Révoil Pierre Henri Révoil (12 June 1776 – 19 March 1842) was a French painter in the troubadour style. Biography He was born in Lyon. His father was a furrier. Although he was needed at home, his family allowed him to receive a proper education ...

(1776-1842). Rue Raymond Cayol is named for

Raymond Cayol Raymond Cayol (1917–1997) was a French politician. He served as a Popular Republican Movement member of the French National Assembly for the Bouches-du-Rhône from 1946 to 1951. Biography Early life Raymond, Louis, Jean Cayol was born on 29 J ...

(1917-1997), who served as a member of the French

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

for the

from 1946 to 1951. As for the Avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, where the obelisk meets, it is named for Marshall

Jean de Lattre de Tassigny Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (2 February 1889 – 11 January 1952) was a French général d'armée during World War II and the First Indochina War. He was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1952. As ...

(1889-1952), who served in World War II and the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

. Moreover, Rue Henri Tomasi is named in honour of

Henri Tomasi Henri Tomasi (; 17 August 1901 – 13 January 1971) was a French classical composer and conductor. He was noted for compositions such as ''In Praise of Folly'', ''Nuclear Era'' and ''The Silence of the Sea''. Early years Henri Tomasi was bor ...

(1901–1971), a French classical composer and conductor born in Marseille.

Notable residents

Jean-Claude Gaudin Jean-Claude Gaudin (; born 8 October 1939) is a French politician for The Republicans. He served as the Mayor of Marseille from 1995 to 2020. He was a member of the National Assembly of France from Bouches-du-Rhône from 1978 to 1989 and has be ...

, who has served as the Mayor of Marseille since 1995, was born and grew up in Mazargues.Ariane Chemin, Gilles Rof
A Marseille, l'ogre Gaudin
''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', 28.09.2013

Bibliography

*Abbé Marius Ganay, ''La poétique histoire de Mazargues'' (Marseille: Société nationale des entreprises de presse, 1947). *Elie Boissin, ''Le Minot de Mazargues'' (Paul Keruel/Vauvenargues éditions). *Elie Boissin, ''Mystères et Histoires des Calanques'' (éditions Terradou). *Evelyne Lyon-Lavaggi, ''Mazargues, près des calanques'' (illustrated by J.-P. Lyon, éditions Alan Sutton, 2007). *Evelyne Lyon-Lavaggi, ''Dis Papet, raconte-nous Mazargues'' (illustrated by J.-P. Lyon, éditions Alan Sutton, 2008). *Evelyne Lyon-Lavaggi, ''Mazargues ses fourneaux d'Antan'' (illustrated by J.-P. Lyon, éditions Alan Sutton, 2009). *Raymond Cresp et Evelyne Lyon-Lavaggi, ''Mazargues et ses Calanques'' (Collection Mémoire en Images, éditions Alan Sutton, 2009).

References

External links